as in excellent
of the very best kind
a first-string rendition of the musical piece
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Recent Examples of first-string
With Hollins and Boutte absent and Brown still on the Eagles, Doubs, Williams, Chism and Douglas received most of the first-string work at wide receiver.
—
Doug Kyed, Boston Herald, 27 May 2026
After years of learning the techniques of a long snapper, Olson earned a first-string spot at the position for Orange Lutheran and joined the Trojans in 2015 as a walk-on player.
—Los Angeles Times, 24 Apr. 2026
Sarkisian said the former four-star recruit from the suburbs of Mobile, Ala., is working with the first-string offense in practice and appears to be the front-runner for Manning’s top backup spot ahead of Morris, a collegiate journeyman who spent last season at Coastal Carolina.
—Thomas Jones, Austin American Statesman, 9 Mar. 2026
While the Steelers gave Warren a modest contract extension just before the start of the season, there really is no definitive first-string running back, which is just the way offensive coordinator Arthur Smith likes it.
—CBS News, 27 Dec. 2025
Tustin’s first-string defense was just as overwhelming, holding the Vanguards to negative-16 yards in the first half while the offense built a 48-0 lead.
—Dan Arritt, Oc Register, 18 Oct. 2025
Most importantly, many defensive special-teams rushers are first-string players, whereas the blockers tend to be second- and third-string players.
—J.j. Bailey, New York Times, 12 Oct. 2025
On a rest day for Bo Nix and much of the Broncos’ first-string crew, backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham, and a few key depth pieces, led the Broncos to a 27-7 beatdown of the Cardinals at Empower Field on Saturday night.
—Luca Evans, Denver Post, 17 Aug. 2025
That is an obvious but nevertheless tempting play with Burrow and the first-string offense in action.
—Tyler Everett, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Aug. 2025
Doug Kyed, Boston Herald, 27 May 2026
After years of learning the techniques of a long snapper, Olson earned a first-string spot at the position for Orange Lutheran and joined the Trojans in 2015 as a walk-on player.
—Los Angeles Times, 24 Apr. 2026
Sarkisian said the former four-star recruit from the suburbs of Mobile, Ala., is working with the first-string offense in practice and appears to be the front-runner for Manning’s top backup spot ahead of Morris, a collegiate journeyman who spent last season at Coastal Carolina.
—Thomas Jones, Austin American Statesman, 9 Mar. 2026
While the Steelers gave Warren a modest contract extension just before the start of the season, there really is no definitive first-string running back, which is just the way offensive coordinator Arthur Smith likes it.
—CBS News, 27 Dec. 2025
Tustin’s first-string defense was just as overwhelming, holding the Vanguards to negative-16 yards in the first half while the offense built a 48-0 lead.
—Dan Arritt, Oc Register, 18 Oct. 2025
Most importantly, many defensive special-teams rushers are first-string players, whereas the blockers tend to be second- and third-string players.
—J.j. Bailey, New York Times, 12 Oct. 2025
On a rest day for Bo Nix and much of the Broncos’ first-string crew, backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham, and a few key depth pieces, led the Broncos to a 27-7 beatdown of the Cardinals at Empower Field on Saturday night.
—Luca Evans, Denver Post, 17 Aug. 2025
That is an obvious but nevertheless tempting play with Burrow and the first-string offense in action.
—Tyler Everett, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for first-string
Adjective
-
There are beautiful lake-side beaches and excellent trout fishing.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
4 June 2026
-
The jury, under the excellent presidency of Park Chan-wook, who was both generous and confident, had extremely varied and highly democratic debates.—
Elsa Keslassy,
Variety,
4 June 2026
Adjective
-
Local joint Frederick’s is a prime spot to grab a drink and catch some live music.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
3 June 2026
-
Murphy noted that the upside call skew has moved sharply higher across Nvidia, Broadcom, Invesco QQQ Trust, VanEck Semiconductor ETF and the broader top-50 S & P component universe, with prime-book momentum exposure at record highs while large-cap tech positioning is near the 95th percentile.—
Justina Lee,
CNBC,
3 June 2026
Adjective
-
Detroit lost for the 21st time in 25 games despite a terrific start by Keider Montero, who allowed just two hits in six shutout innings.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
31 May 2026
-
Crucially, this Bond is terrific, not tiresome.—
Jordan Minor,
PC Magazine,
29 May 2026
Adjective
-
This has not been a stellar season for Newcastle, and, relative to the momentous collective achievements of his first full season as captain, Guimaraes and his side have not scaled the same heights.—
Chris Waugh,
New York Times,
29 May 2026
-
And the photos in that X post are pretty stellar, too.—
Tyler Estep,
AJC.com,
29 May 2026
Adjective
-
Wilson has had his most productive Premier League season by some distance, scoring 10 goals – compared to 12 across three previous top-flight campaigns with Fulham combined — and some of them have been superb, too.—
Cerys Jones,
New York Times,
29 May 2026
-
These red carpet-worthy pieces include dramatically draping diamond necklaces, icy diamond and ruby bracelets, superb emerald and diamond jewels and celestial sapphire and diamond rings.—
Kyle Roderick,
Forbes.com,
28 May 2026
Adjective
-
Monroe’s image-making Monroe always had greater agency over her still images than her moving images, which were largely determined by the film studios and directors.—
Sheena McKenzie,
CNN Money,
3 June 2026
-
In performance and direction, and in the small ways in which Caswell and Wills have plotted out this isolated love story, there’s a level of great richness and detail.—
Jackson McHenry,
Vulture,
3 June 2026
Adjective
-
Delisle was fiery and wonderful, but the angel came later.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 June 2026
-
The retro American bar—with its picture windows right on the river—is a wonderful spot for a glass of fizz or a vintage Negroni.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
2 June 2026
Adjective
-
Staff are uniformly lovely and helpful.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
4 June 2026
-
Any guy currently punching well above his weight class with a lovely girlfriend knows that truth intuitively.—
Alejandro Avila OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
1 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“First-string.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/first-string. Accessed 7 Jun. 2026.
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